Talking paper authoring tools

ABSTRACT

A range of unified software authoring tools for creating a talking paper application for integration in an end user platform are described herein. The authoring tools are easy to use and are interoperable to provide an easy and cost-effective method of creating a talking paper application. The authoring tools provide a framework for creating audio content and image content and interactively linking the audio content and the image content. The authoring tools also provide for verifying the interactively linked audio and image content, reviewing the audio content, the image content and the interactive linking on a display device. Finally, the authoring tools provide for saving the audio content, the video content and the interactive linking for publication to a manufacturer for integration in an end user platform or talking paper platform.

BACKGROUND

Traditional multimedia devices that combine imagery, video, audio andinteractivity are very useful in environments such as general educationand any environment in which the combination of images and audio can beused effectively. Computing devices, such as PCs, PDAs and high-endmobile phones are examples of devices that serve this educationalpurpose. However, these devices are expensive and, thus, out of reachfor many economically challenged communities around the world who maybenefit greatly from such a device.

“Talking paper” is the term used for combinations of image, audio andinteractivity that involve printed, hand-illustrated or any other staticimage content with electronically generated audio content. The use of atalking paper device is one method for making these interactivemultimedia devices more affordable. Although a number of talking paperproducts currently exist, such as the electronic greeting card or theelectronic talking book, the tools used to create content for theseproducts are meant for teams of specially trained experts. However, aneed exists for a range of unified software authoring tools whichprovides for a method to create a talking paper application that iseasier and more cost effective.

SUMMARY

This document describes a range of software authoring tools for creatingtalking paper applications. The range of software authoring tools allowfor creation of audio content and image content and interactive linkingof the audio content and the image content. These tools also allow forverification of the interactively linked audio and image content andreview of the audio content, the image content and the interactivelinking on a display device. Further, these tools allow for saving ofthe audio content, the image content and the interactive linking forpublication to a manufacturer for integration in an end user or talkingpaper platform.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key or essentialfeatures of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used asan aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. The term“tools,” for instance, may refer to system(s), method(s),computer-readable instructions, and/or technique(s) as permitted by thecontext above and throughout the document.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CONTENTS

The detailed description is described with reference to accompanyingfigures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference numberidentifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. Theuse of the same reference numbers in different figures indicates similaror identical items.

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative architecture that may implement a rangeof unified software authoring tools for creating talking paperapplications.

FIGS. 2-4 depict a functional flow diagram of an illustrative processfor a range of unified software authoring tools used for creatingtalking paper applications.

FIGS. 5-6 are flow diagrams of illustrative processes for creating atalking paper application using a unified software authoring tool.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Overview

This document describes a range of unified software tools for authoringtalking paper applications. A desktop talking paper authoring tool is atool or series of tools that allows for the creation of content forvarious talking paper platforms in an easy and cost effective manner. Anauthoring tool typically allows a user to author, review, verify andpublish content. Such authoring tools may be primarily software that isperformed on hardware that is capable of computation and publication,such as printing and transfer of files to other devices. However, thetalking paper authoring tools may also be built as a special purposehardware device.

A “talking paper platform” may comprise a platform that includes astatic visual medium or image content portion and an audio medium orcontent portion that is typically electronic. The visual or imagecontent portion and the audio content portion may be interactivelylinked such that the audio content portion is activated upon selectionof the corresponding image content portion. Talking paper platforms mayinclude, but are not limited to, electronic greeting cards, electronictalking books, museum audio tour systems, and the like. Talking paperplatforms may also include any combination of visual content andaudio-playback devices where the visual content comprises paper, aposter, a book, a brochure or pamphlet, a painted surface, a billboard,a collage or mosaic, an LED- or LCD-based display and/or any othervisual or printed medium. The audio playback device, meanwhile, maycomprise a mobile phone, a cassette tape player, a dictaphone, a CDplayer, a record player, a turntable or gramophone, an MP3 player, anApple iPod, a processor/speaker combination, a miniature audio playbackdevice and/or any other audio playback device. It is also possible forthe talking paper platform to be additionally or alternatively linked toa more sophisticated computing device, such as a PC or mobile phone, bya USB interface for example.

The talking paper application, meanwhile, is the content that isincorporated into a talking paper platform. The term “content” consistsof a combination of image content, audio content and interactivelinking. The range of authoring tools typically includes creating orgenerating new audio content or adapting existing audio content andcreating or generating new image content or adapting existing audiocontent. The range of authoring tools also includes interactivelylinking the audio content and the image content, reviewing theinteractively linked content, verifying the interactively linkedcontent. Finally, the range of authoring tools includes publishing thecontent or talking paper application to a format or device for amanufacturer to integrate into a talking paper platform. The publishingportion of the set of authoring tools may include the ability to massproduce the publication depending on the needs of the manufacturer. Forinstance, the manufacturer may request the publication in an electronicformat whereby the manufacturer will only need the master electroniccopy which will be used in the manufacturing process to produce thetalking paper platform. However, the manufacturer may desire productioncopies of the image content and electronic copies of the audio contentand linking information to utilize in the production process. In thiscase, production quantities may be needed.

The process described above can be accomplished in many different waysdepending on the talking paper application to be created. Choosingand/or creating the audio content and the image content may beaccomplished in any order. After creation or selection of the audio andimage content, one or more portions of the image content may beinteractively linked with one or more portions of the audio content.After this linking, the links may be reviewed, verified and, finally,the talking paper unit may be saved in a format suitable for publishingthe talking paper unit to an end user platform (e.g., an electronicbook, greeting card, etc.).

As such, the authoring tools described herein may allow for, simplifyand (in some instances) automate the process of linking image contentwith audio content. For example, the authoring tools may provide forprinting numbers on comic book images such that when such images areentered into a mobile phone as a user consumes the corresponding image,the linked audio content would playback on the mobile phone. Theauthoring tools may allow these numbers in this and other examples to beautomatically incremented or numbered by page to enable an automatednumber system. The numbers could also be unique at the page level, atthe specific content level or globally unique so that no two numbers areever repeated across all content generated for the same platform.Alternatives to numbers, such as symbols, names or any other method toindex and associate visual content with audio content, may also be used.

The authoring tools may also allow for, simplify and automate theprocess of creating interactive links in which the audio contentinstructs users to perform a particular action. For example, the audiocontent may instruct the user to “turn to page 3 in the image content”or “refer to book X, page 12.” The audio content may similarly includeany other type of instruction that tells the user where to find theimage content that correlates with the audio content. Thus, theinteractive link may be a physical link or a non-physical link dependingon the application. The interactive links may be hierarchicallyorganized, possibly pointing to different pages in the image content.The organization of the interactive links may be automated or determinedby the user.

The authoring tools may also integrate a text-to-speech component thatautomatically generates the audio content from entered text. Theauthoring tools may also integrate cartooning tools or other imageprocessing tools that automatically generate cartoons or drawings fromphotographs. Further, the authoring tools may include standard video oraudio editing tools or allow for the automatic inclusion of audioinstructions for how to use the talking paper platform and view thecontent. As such, the number and type of authoring tools to be used increating the talking paper application can easily be scaled andincorporated depending on the needs identified in the particular talkingpaper platform.

The authoring tools may also provide for automated or user-assistedinput from other media. For instance, a text-based computer file may beautomatically or semi-automatically converted into talking paper contentwith text summarization and text-to-speech technology that generatescorresponding audio content. The resulting content can be saved and/orpublished. In other instances, printed matter, such as a book, can bescanned and processed with optical character recognition (OCR) and thenautomatically or semi-automatically converted into talking paper contentwith text summarization and text-to-speech technology generatingcorresponding audio. Again, the resulting content can be saved and/orpublished.

Furthermore, a computer document may also be automatically orsemi-automatically converted into talking paper content, with textsummarization and text-to-speech technology generating audio for textand images being automatically used as part of the image content. Theresulting content may then be saved and/or published. In any of theabove examples, the described authoring tools may provide a userinterface that allows user customization or assistance in instanceswhere automatic means for summarization, text-to-speech, OCR or documentsegmentation are not satisfactory.

The described tools may also provide extensive publishing capabilities.For instance, publishing the image content may be accomplished byprinting, for example, with a printing press, computer printer, silkscreen, or some other similar device. Publishing the image content mayalso include the ability to display the image content on a mechanical orelectronic display. Stored instructions for a mechanical or electronicdisplay or stored instructions for a computing device with display areother ways of publishing the image content. Publishing image content mayalso include instructions to a human illustrator, to the Internet or anyother manner specified by the manufacturer of the talking paperplatform. Publishing the image content and/or the audio content may alsohappen at a large scale in production quantities such that multiplecopies of the image content are reproduced in one quick task. Publishingthe image content and/or the audio content may also include transferringdata from one device to another device via wired or wireless means, bytransfer using an electronic storage device such as a CD-ROM, DVD, USBflash drive, Blue Ray disc or other similar storage devices.

The publication process may also involve additional hardware components,where the components may include any of the following: (1) manufacturingat a remote factory, (2) accessibility by an author or user, or (3)manufacturing with a special manufacturing device. The hardwarecomponents may include buttons, RFID tags, small electronic components,inactive physical objects or any other similar hardware components. Thepublication process would involve affixing these components to thecontent or providing instructions to authors or users to affix thecomponents to specified portions of content where the image contentresides.

In some cases, such as the electronic greeting cards, where the talkingpaper platform is an integrated piece of hardware, the publishingprocess may include a physical process that combines the image contentwith the audio content by using a special purpose machine. The processin this type of platform may additionally include printed and/oraudio-based instructions for a manual physical process. For example, theinstructions may state in written or oral form “affix audio device Xinto square Y indicated by the dotted lines on the printed visualmatter.”

In the publication process or at any other time throughout the creationof the talking paper application, any time that storage or transmissionof data is required, the data may be encrypted and/or compressed toimprove security and/or reduce storage capacity requirements.

Publication of the content may result in an executable file that can runon the audio playback device, such as a mobile phone, an embedded deviceor any other audio device described above. The published executableallows the audio playback device to control the playback flow, includingfast forward, rewind, playback speed control and other similar commands.For example, if the audio playback device is a mobile phone with acamera, the camera could be used to detect mobile phone motion, which inturn could be translated into commands to fast forward or rewind audio.The executable code may include visual cues, such as progressindicators, that are secondary to the audio playback.

The authoring tool and its variations described above may, in someinstances, comprise a single software tool and authoring environment,even though they may be formed from multiple software tools that form aninteroperable collection of tools for authoring. This interoperable setof authoring tools is capable of publishing to different talking paperplatforms using the same core audio and image content. The automatedlayout and interactive design logic facilitates publication to multipletalking paper platforms.

Having provided an overview of the claimed talking paper tools, thediscussion now describes an illustrative architecture that may implementthese tools. A discussion of an illustrative flow diagram follows,before the discussion concludes with illustrative processes for creatingtalking paper content with use of the described tools.

Illustrative Architecture

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative architecture 100 that may employ thedescribed talking paper authoring tools. As illustrated, FIG. 1 includesa user 102 operating a computing device 104. While FIG. 1 illustratescomputing device 104 as a personal computer, other embodiments mayemploy laptop computers, mobile phones, set-top boxes, game consoles,personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable media players (PMPs) (e.g.,portable video players (PVPs) and digital audio players (DAPs)), and thelike. The user may also access servers 106 and 108 through a network110, as described below.

Computing device 104 contains processors 112 and memory 114. Memory 114may contain content 116 and a talking paper engine 122 whichincorporates a set of authoring tools. The content 116 may include audiocontent 118 and/or image content 120. Audio content 118 may includedownloaded voice or music audio, pre-recorded voice or music audio,computer generated voice or music audio and/or any other similar audiothat can be associated with an image and as further described above.Image content 120, meanwhile, may include hand-drawn images,computer-generated images, imported graphics, photographs, posters,brochures, pamphlets or any other similar static images as furtherdescribed above. The content 116 may be used by the talking paper engine122 to develop a talking paper application. As illustrated, the talkingpaper engine 122 may include an authoring engine 124, a linkinginteraction engine 126, a reviewing engine 128 and a publishing engine130.

The authoring engine 124 provides the user with the tools necessary toaccess and select the appropriate content 116 for the talking paperapplication. That is, the authoring engine 124 allows the user to layout and select the appropriate audio content 118 and the appropriateimage content 120 to meet the talking paper application requirements.

Once the user has selected the appropriate audio content 118 and imagecontent 120, the linking interaction engine 126 is utilized to link aportion of the audio content 118 with a portion of the image content120. This can be accomplished, for instance, by drawing a rectanglearound the portion of the image content 120 that the user would like tolink with the selected audio content 118. The portion of the imagecontent 120 to link with the portion of the audio content 118 may alsobe selected by pointing and clicking on a particular object or by anyother method in which a user selects items on a computing device.

Although FIG. 1 illustrates content 116 as being stored in memory 114,other embodiments may employ content that is stored remotely. In someinstances, computing device 104 may utilize servers 106 through network110 to access content 132. Here, the content 132 includes audio content134 and image content 136. The user may select audio content 134 andimage content 136 for download to the computing device 104 through thenetwork 110 for use in the talking paper application. As describedabove, the audio content 134 and the image content 136 may comprise manydifferent types of audio and image content.

Similarly, the talking paper engine 122 may be stored locally in memory114 of the computing device 104, or the engine 122 may be stored andoperated remotely. For instance, FIG. 1 illustrates that the user 102may access the servers 108 through the network 110 for the purpose ofoperating the talking paper engine 122. As such, the engine 122 maycomprise a local application or a web-accessible application, amongother possibilities.

Meanwhile, after the audio content 118 and the image content 120 hasbeen linked using the linking interaction engine 126, the user 102 mayactivate the reviewing engine 128. The reviewing engine 128 allows theuser to simulate the talking paper application on the computing device104. The user can visually see and hear the talking paper application tocheck the accuracy and compatibility of the various components of theapplication, i.e. the audio content, the image content and the linkbetween them. Therefore, if the user 102 identifies a problem with thetalking paper application, then the user may attempt to fix theidentified problem before the talking paper application is actuallypublished.

The reviewing engine 128 also provides reference tools for formalverification of the talking paper application. The formal verificationincludes checking for such items as whether the audio exists for acertain image or graphic, whether each of the links have an end to avoidinfinite looping and whether there exists any link paths that may not beaccessed. The reference tools can provide for many other formal checksto make sure the simulation is accurate and bug free.

Finally, once the talking paper application has been created using theauthoring engine 124 and the linking interaction engine 126 and verifiedusing the reviewing engine 128, the user may operate the publishingengine 130 to save the file in a format suitable for publishing to anend user platform. The publishing engine 130 can either be operated oncomputing device 104 or on servers 108 through network 110. The transferof the talking paper application to a format suitable for use by themanufacturers or publishers 138 can be accomplished in a number of ways,including printing the images on a local printer and sending the imagesdirectly to the manufacturer either by mail or digitally along with therecorded audio file and the links or by saving the file(s) to some typeof portable storage device such as a cartridge, compact disk or DVD oras further described above. The type of storage and the format will bedetermined by the individual manufacturer. The publishers 138 can thenproduce the talking paper application in the appropriate format forsending to a manufacturer to integrate the talking paper applicationinto the final product or talking paper platform. The files may betransferred to the publisher from computing device 104 through network110 although various modes of conveyance are possible depending on theneeds of the publishers 138 and manufacturers.

Again, while the discussion above has concentrated on operating thetalking engine 122 on a computing device 104, the user 102 may alsoutilize a talking paper engine 122 remotely using servers 108 throughnetwork 110. Note that network 110, which couples computing device 104with servers 106 and 108, may comprise the Internet, a Local AreaNetwork (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a wireless network, and/or thelike. The talking paper engine 122 would operate in a similar manner tothe talking paper engine 122 accessed on the computing device 104.

Illustrative Flow Diagram

FIGS. 2-4 depict a functional flow diagram of an illustrative processfor employing the described authoring tools for creating talking paperapplications. Process 200 is illustrated as a logical flow diagram whichrepresents a sequence of operations that can be implemented in hardware,software, or a combination thereof. In the context of software, theoperations represent computer-executable instructions that, whenexecuted by one or more processors, perform the recited operations.Generally, computer-executable instructions include routines, programs,objects, components, data structures, and the like that performparticular functions or implement particular abstract data types.

Process 200 represents illustrative operations used to create a talkingpaper application utilizing a set of authoring tools. At operation 202,the user browses image content (e.g., locally or remotely) to peruse thelibrary of images available. These images may include images created bythe user or contained in a library of previously-created images. Thebrowsing may be initiated by clicking on a “browse” button on thecomputer device 104 and scrolling through the images, for instance.After the user has had a chance to browse the image content, the userselects one or more images in operation 204. The selection operation maybe accomplished by highlighting the image the user has selected andclicking on a “select” button.

The user now selects a portion of the image content in operation 206.This selection represents that portion of the image that the user willeventually link to a piece of audio that is selected. The selection maybe accomplished in a number of ways. For instance, the selection processmay include drawing a rectangle around that portion of the image that isto be selected and clicking on a “select” button on displayed userinterface.

FIG. 3 continues the illustration of process 200. Here, at operation 208the user browses audio files (e.g., locally or remotely) to determinethe audio content the user wishes to link with the selected portion ofthe image content. Again, the user can click on a certain audio filethat has been created or found in an audio library or some other placeon the computing device 104 or the network 110 as discussed with regardto FIG. 1 above. Once the user clicks on the audio file, the computingdevice 104 will play that file. The user may then click on the next fileto play that file until such time as the user discovers the audiocontent that is desired. Upon arriving at a decision, user then selectsthe audio content at operation 210. This selection may be accomplishedby highlighting the specific audio file and clicking on the “select”button.

FIG. 4 continues the illustration of process 200 and includes operation212, where a portion of the image content becomes associated with aportion of the audio content. In operation 212, the audio content may beactivated upon activation of a corresponding portion of the imagecontent by clicking the “select” button. In operation 214, the userreviews the audio content, the image content and the linking between theaudio content and the selected portion of the image content. This reviewoperation 214 may be accomplished by highlighting the selected portionof the image content and the audio content and clicking a “review”button to activate. The audio content will then playback while viewingthe selected portion of the image content. If the review is satisfactoryto the user, the user may click the “save” button to save the imagecontent file, the audio content file and the linking file for futurepublishing. If the review is not satisfactory to the user, the user mayclick the “revise” button and some or all of the previous operations202-212 will be repeated until the review is satisfactory to the user.

Operation 214 may also include a verification operation to verify theaccuracy and compatibility of the links established between the selectedportion of the image content and the audio content as well as theaccuracy of the selected portion of the image content and the audiocontent itself. This verification operation can be performedautomatically or at the instigation of the user to provide qualitycontrol over the final product prior to publishing. This verificationoperation includes checking for such items as whether the audio existsfor a certain image or graphic, whether each of the links have an end toavoid infinite looping and whether there exists any link paths that maynot be accessed

In operation 216, the user saves the audio content, the image contentand the linking for integration into an end user platform. The mannerand format of saving will vary depending on the manufacturer. Themanufacturer of the end user platform may want the final outputtransferred in printed format and digital format. For instance, themanufacturer may want the image printed by the publisher where thepublisher will send the printed image to the publisher along with thelinked audio content recorded in some other format. The audio contentand the link information can be recorded on a cassette tape, a compactdisk, a DVD, a flash drive or a portable hard drive or other similartype of storage device. The manufacturer may also want the whole file,i.e., the audio content, the image content and the linking informationsaved all together. For example, the audio content, the image contentand the linking information may be saved to a storage cartridge, acompact disk, a DVD, a flash drive or a portable hard drive or othersimilar type of storage device. In this example, the storage media canthen be shipped or digitally sent to the publisher for incorporationinto an end user platform. There are many different ways to save thetalking paper application for transfer to the manufacturers and it isdependent on the format and technology used and requested by themanufacturers.

Furthermore, in some instances, the user may personally publish the fileby, for example, printing the image content (and potentially the linkstherein) and/or transferring the audio content to the audio device(e.g., a mobile phone of the user). Of course, while a few illustrativemethodologies for publishing have been discussed, it is to beappreciated that the finalized talking paper application may bepublished in a variety of ways.

Illustrative Processes

FIGS. 5-6 depict illustrative processes for creating a talking paperapplication using a unified software authoring tool and may beimplemented by the architecture of FIG. 1 and/or by other architectures.These processes are each illustrated as a collection of blocks in alogical flow graph, which represent a sequence of operations that can beimplemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. In thecontext of software, the blocks represent computer-executableinstructions that, when executed by one or more processors, perform therecited operations. Generally, computer-executable instructions includeroutines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and the likethat perform particular functions or implement particular abstract datatypes. The order in which the operations are described is not intendedto be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described blockscan be combined in any order and/or in parallel to implement theprocess.

Process 500 includes operation 502 where an audio component is createdand operation 504 where an image component is created. These operationscan both include actually creating the audio component and imagecomponent or searching through a library of audio content and imagecontent to select a previously created audio file and image file.Operation 506 interactively links a portion of the image content withaudio content such that when a user chooses the selected portion of theimage content, the audio content is activated and plays in concert withthe selected portion of the image content.

Next, operation 508 determines whether the interactive links arecompatible. This may be accomplished by using a set of reference toolsthat verifies the accuracy and the compatibility of the interactivelinks as well as the accuracy of the audio content and the imagecontent. If the verification operation is satisfactory, operation 512 isactivated and a user can then view the end result on an electronicdisplay device, such as computing device 104. If, however, theverification operation is not satisfactory, operation 510 is activatedand a user can then create alternative interactive links that oncecreated will again pass through operation 508 until such time as thelinks are determined to be compatible and can proceed to operation 512.

Again, the audio content, the selected portion of the image content andthe linking between the audio content and the selected portion of theimage content, (i.e. the talking paper application) is physicallyreviewed in operation 512. This serves as a check to determine if thetalking paper application is visually and audibly appealing to the user.Operation 514 queries whether the review is satisfactory and, if so,operation 516 then saves the talking paper application to allow forintegration in an end user platform. As previously stated, the mannerand format in which the files are saved may be dependent on theindividual needs of the manufacturers.

If the review in operation 514 is not satisfactory, operation 512 isonce again activated and the review is initiated again. At this point,the user can proceed back to operation 502, 504 or 506 to revise all orsome of the audio content, image content or interactive linkage tocorrect the problem identified during operation 512. Once the revisionshave been made, operation 508 may be activated again and the processwill again continue through the verification and review operations 508and 512, respectively, as described above.

FIG. 6 illustrates a process 600 which includes receiving, at operation602, a request to create a link between a specified portion of an audiofile and a specified portion of an image file. In operation 604, theprocess 600 includes instructions to create a link between a portion ofthe audio file and a portion of the image file. The link that is createdallows for interactivity between the audio file and the image file toprovide for educational instruction or other similar activitiesdiscussed above.

At operation 606, a request is received to review the created link. Atthis point, the link can be reviewed for compatibility and accuracy.Operation 608 provides for simulating the created link by playing aportion of the audio file upon activation of a specified portion of theimage file. Operation 608 provides the opportunity to review theaesthetics and listening quality of the created link. At operation 610,a request is received to publish the audio file, the image file and thecreated link. Operation 612, meanwhile, saves the audio file, the imagefile and the created link in a format suitable for publishing wherebythe image file and the link are configured for publishing to a printedmedium. Again, the manufacturers of the end user platform may have manydifferent needs in terms of printed medium and format. One need is toprovide for printing in a static format the image file and the linkcompatible with the selected audio file. Once the audio file, image fileand the link are saved, the saved talking paper application can bepublished and sent to the manufacturer for integration in an end userplatform.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims.

1. A method comprising: under control of one or more processorsconfigured with executable instructions: creating an audio component;creating an image component, wherein creating the audio component andthe image component comprises: converting a printed or computer documentinto audio and images using optical character recognition, textsummarization and/or text-to-speech technology; and providing a userinterface for a user to customize the audio and the images to create theaudio component and the image component; interactively linking a portionof the audio component with a portion of the image component with alink; reviewing the audio component, the image component and the link onan electronic viewing device, the reviewing comprising: verifyingwhether the link between the audio component and the image componentexists, verifying whether the link between the audio component and theimage component includes an end to avoid an infinite looping, andverifying whether a link path of the link between the audio componentand the image component is accessible; and saving the audio component,the image component and the link to allow for integration into an enduser platform, wherein the image component is presented in a printed ordigital format upon integration in the end user platform and wherein theaudio component is activated upon accessing the portion of the imagecomponent in the printed or digital format.
 2. The method as recited inclaim 1, wherein the interactively linking the portion of the audiocomponent with the portion of the image component comprises physicallylinking the portion of the audio component and the portion of the imagecomponent.
 3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the creating ofthe audio component further comprises recording the audio component toan audio file.
 4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the creatingof the audio component further comprises selecting a local or remoteaudio file.
 5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the creating ofthe audio component further comprises downloading an audio file from awebsite.
 6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the creating ofthe image component further comprises drawing a graphics image.
 7. Themethod as recited in claim 1, wherein the creating of the imagecomponent further comprises importing a graphics image from a website.8. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising publishing theaudio component, the image component and the link to an audio tourbook.9. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising publishing theaudio component, the image component and the link to an educationaltalking book.
 10. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprisingpublishing the audio component, the image component and the link to anelectronic greeting card.
 11. A system comprising: one or moreprocessors; memory, communicatively coupled to the one or moreprocessors, storing instructions that, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, configure the one or more processors to perform actscomprising: creating an audio component and an image component, whereincreating the audio component and the image component comprises:converting a printed or computer document into audio and images usingoptical character recognition, text summarization and/or text-to-speechtechnology; and providing a user interface for a user to customize theaudio and the images to create the audio component and the imagecomponent; interactively linking a portion of the audio component with aportion of the image component with a link; reviewing the audiocomponent, the image component and the link on an electronic viewingdevice, the reviewing comprising: verifying whether the link between theaudio component and the image component exists, verifying whether thelink between the audio component and the image component includes an endto avoid an infinite looping, and verifying whether a link path of thelink between the audio component and the image component is accessible;and saving the audio component, the image component and the link in aformat to allow for integration into an end user platform, the savedformat being selected from a plurality of formats and facilitating theimage component to be presented in the printed or digital medium uponintegration in the end user platform and the audio component to beactivated upon accessing the portion of the image component in theprinted or digital medium.
 12. The system as recited in claim 11, theacts further comprising including a number or symbol on the imagecomponent to enable playing of the audio component when consuming theimage component using a mobile device, the number or symbol being uniqueacross all content at a page level, a specific content level or a globallevel in the end user platform.
 13. One or more storage devicesexcluding signal configured with executable instructions that, whenexecuted by one or more processors, configure the one or more processorsto perform acts comprising: under control of one or more processorsconfigured with executable instructions: creating an audio component;creating an image component, wherein creating the audio component andthe image component comprises: converting a printed or computer documentinto audio and images using optical character recognition, textsummarization and/or text-to-speech technology; and providing a userinterface for a user to customize the audio and the images to create theaudio component and the image component; interactively linking a portionof the audio component with a portion of the image component with alink; reviewing the audio component, the image component and the link onan electronic viewing device, the reviewing comprising: verifyingwhether the link between the audio component and the image componentexists, verifying whether the link between the audio component and theimage component includes an end to avoid an infinite looping, andverifying whether a link path of the link between the audio componentand the image component is accessible; and saving the audio component,the image component and the link to allow for integration into an enduser platform, wherein the image component is presented in a printed ordigital format upon integration in the end user platform and wherein theaudio component is activated upon accessing the portion of the imagecomponent in the printed or digital format.
 14. The one or more storagedevices as recited in claim 13, wherein the interactively linking theportion of the audio component with the portion of the image componentcomprises physically linking the portion of the audio component and theportion of the image component.
 15. The one or more storage devices asrecited in claim 13, wherein the creating of the audio component furthercomprises recording the audio component to an audio file.
 16. The one ormore storage devices as recited in claim 13, wherein the creating of theaudio component further comprises selecting a local or remote audiofile.
 17. The one or more storage devices as recited in claim 13,wherein the creating of the audio component further comprisesdownloading an audio file from a website.
 18. The one or more storagedevices as recited in claim 13, wherein the creating of the imagecomponent further comprises importing a graphics image from a website.19. The one or more storage devices as recited in claim 13, furthercomprising publishing the audio component, the image component and thelink to an audio tourbook, an educational talking book and/or anelectronic greeting card.